JOB CONTENT QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Employee:

The form which you are about to complete is called the Job Content Questionnaire.
It is a type of position questionnaire which is designed to collect all types of information
about the kind of work you do. It is NOT intended to measure how well you perform your
job. Only your supervisor using a performance appraisal form can evaluate your work
performance.

Before you begin to answer the items on this form, take a moment to read the
questions listed below. They will give you an insight into the purposes and uses of the
Job Content Questionnaire.

THE JOB CONTENT QUESTIONNAIRE

WHO completes the form ? The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) is to be completed by
every employee who occupies a state service position. If a position is vacant, the
immediate supervisor completes the form. The JCQ should be updated no less
than once a year either at the time of your performance appraisal or following the
vacating of the position.

WHAT is the Job Content Questionnaire ? The JCQ is a type of position questionnaire
which is designed to collect data about the type of work performed in your position
and the qualifications necessary to satisfactorily perform your job. It is also a tool
used to determine the essential functions of the position.

FOR WHOM am I completing the form ? The JCQ is maintained by the employee's agency
at all times. It is submitted to the State Personnel Board with requests to establish
a new position or to reallocate an existing position.

WHY am I completing the form ? The JCQ is the principal document which describes
duties and responsibilities of your position. The data which it contains can be used
for such important processes as developing training programs, interviewing job
applicants, determining criteria for performance appraisals, and determining
position classifications, class specifications, and selection requirements.

HOW is the form completed ? Instructions are provided for you throughout the form. The
most important thing for you to remember is that you should completely and
accurately describe your job as it presently functions. The form may be completed
in your own handwriting or typed. If you need assistance in completing the JCQ,
contact your agency personnel officer, who has been trained in various analysis
techniques which are applied in this form.
DEFINITIONS

Duty : a distinct, major role or function assigned to a position which is a principal

responsibility and which occupies a significant portion of work time.

Task : a distinct, identifiable work activity that constitutes one of the logical and
necessary steps in the performance of a major duty.

Position or Job : a group of current duties, tasks, and responsibilities requiring the services
or activities of one worker.

Class : a specific group of jobs or positions which are sufficiently similar in duties to
warrant the same title, selection requirements, and pay range; also, the official title
assigned to a position by the State Personnel Board.

Supervision : the act of planning activities, organizing work functions, directing the actions
of employees, and controlling the work output of an assigned staff. The supervisory
function is one which may be exercised either over particular line positions and personnel
within the agency or over specific functions.

Essential Functions : the fundamental job duties of the position: not to include the
marginal functions of the position.

Knowledges : the subjects, topics, and items of information which a new employee
typically should know at the time he or she is hired or moved into the job; knowledges are
bodies of information that are applied directly to the performance of work functions.

Skills : technical or manual proficiencies which are usually learned or acquired through
training and which are present, measurable, and observable.

Abilities : the present demonstrable capacity to apply several knowledges and skills
simultaneously in order to complete a task or perform an observable behavior; abilities may
also relate to personal and social attributes which tend to be innate or acquired without
formal instructions, such as the ability to deal effectively with the public in giving and
obtaining information.
 DIRECTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE JOB CONTENT QUESTIONNAIRE

This section is the most important of those within the form and is the one which will require the most thought. Here you are
asked to describe your job in detail so that this information can be used for such functions as training, appraising
performance, interviewing and classification.

Overcome the tendency to exaggerate your work, but rather describe it in meaningful terms which accurately represent the
duties and tasks you perform. Avoid using such ambiguous terms as help, handle, assume, and process. Do use crisp,
concise terms which actually define your work, such as compose, type, record, assign, and review.
Your supervisor should be able to help you compile a list of your major duties. Also, your agency personnel officer will be
able to assist in completing this section. Space has been provided for writing six (6) major duties and their accompanying
task statements. Feel free to add or delete pages as required.

Duty Statement
A duty is a distinct, major role or function which may include any number of tasks. It is one of your principal responsibilities
and occupies a significant portion of your time. List the most important first, then those done regularly, and then those done
occasionally or by special assignment. Be sure the duty statement is significantly descriptive to incorporate all major
components of that duty.

In describing your work, indicate what is true of your job today , not what was true on the day you were hired or what is
expected to be true in the future. Should you be assigned duties which are performed only during certain times of the year,
you may include these duties if they have been performed in the last calendar year. If the position is vacant, the immediate
supervisor should complete this section, describing the job as though the position is filled by a fully trained and experienced
individual.

Task
Each task statement should tell what action is performed; for whom or what you do this action; what is produced by this
action; and which equipment, tools, materials, work aids, and processes you use when performing this action.

Percentage of Time
The percentage of time is the estimate of the total work time which you spend in performing each duty. In estimating the
percentage of time, it may be easiest for you to look at your job duties over an extended period of time, say within the last
calendar year, in order to determine these figures. When all duties have been assigned percentages, the sum of these
percentages should equal one hundred percent .

Rating Scale
The Rating Scale should be completed after you have written duty statements describing your job. Simply read the rating
scale below, then rank each duty statement by a single rating scale.

How often do you perform this task?

1. Regularly - on a daily/weekly basis
2. Periodically - on a monthly basis
3. Infrequently - on a yearly basis

What is the consequence of error?

1. Low - little effect beyond inconvenience
2. Limited - loss of time
3. Moderate - detrimental to reputation and services of the organization
4. High - loss of program effectiveness, embarrassment to the organization, impacts on working relationships with
other agencies
5. Serious - cause loss of life or limb

Knowledges, Skills, and Abilities

Describe the knowledges, skills, and abilities a person would possess in order to perform each duty satisfactorily. Think in
terms of requirements that any individual should meet to satisfactorily perform your job and not the qualifications which you
currently possess. You may want to refer to the definitions of the terms knowledges, skills and abilities before completing
this segment.
 JOB CONTENT QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Position Data

a. Position Number (PIN) Check one: Filled Vacant

b. Job Class

c. Agency

County

d. Worksite(s) [Check.] Office Field

Other
[Specify.]

e. Job Summary [Short statement of the job's basic purpose; why the job exists.]

2. What education, special training, experience, or licenses are required for satisfactory job
performance?

3. What machines or equipment are you responsible for operating?

4. What are the working conditions? List such items as noise, heat, outside work, exposure to bad
weather.

5. Do you directly supervise other employees? If so, give the number supervised, their job titles, and
the number they each supervise.

6. Are there any special characteristics, physical requirements, etc., a person must possess in order to
perform your duties satisfactorily?

Certification of Incumbent: I certify that I have read the instructions and that the entries are my own and to
the best of my knowledge are accurate and complete.

Signature Date
 Duty Statement #1

Tasks

% of Time Devoted to this Duty How frequently is this duty Consequence of Error
performed? [Check one.] (1-5)

Regularly

Periodically

Infrequently

Were you required to be able to perform this duty upon entry into the
position?

Knowledges

Skills

Abilities
 Duty Statement #2

Tasks

% of Time Devoted to this Duty How frequently is this duty Consequence of Error
performed? [Check one.] (1-5)

Regularly

Periodically

Infrequently

Were you required to be able to perform this duty upon entry into the
position?

Knowledges

Skills

Abilities
 Duty Statement #3

Tasks

% of Time Devoted to this Duty How frequently is this duty Consequence of Error
performed? [Check one.] (1-5)

Regularly

Periodically

Infrequently

Were you required to be able to perform this duty upon entry into the
position?

Knowledges

Skills

Abilities
 Duty Statement #4

Tasks

% of Time Devoted to this Duty How frequently is this duty Consequence of Error
performed? [Check one.] (1-5)

Regularly

Periodically

Infrequently

Were you required to be able to perform this duty upon entry into the
position?

Knowledges

Skills

Abilities
 Duty Statement #5

Tasks

% of Time Devoted to this Duty How frequently is this duty Consequence of Error
performed? [Check one.] (1-5)

Regularly

Periodically

Infrequently

Were you required to be able to perform this duty upon entry into the
position?

Knowledges

Skills

Abilities
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR

This section should be completed by the employee's immediate supervisor after reviewing the entries made
by the incumbent. Should you find incomplete entries or inaccuracies in the employee's description of his
or her job, resolve these discrepancies before the employee completes the final draft of this form. The
immediate supervisor's section has been designed as a recap and overview of the employee's description of
the job. It should be completed in either your own handwriting or typed and it must be signed and dated.

1. Briefly describe the functions performed by the unit in which the employee works.

2. What do you consider the most important responsibilities of this position?

3. What types of formal education, specialized training, related work experience, certification,
licensure, or registration, and other special requirements should be required at entry for this job?

4. How many months would it take a new employee in this position to perform at the level that a fully
experienced individual performs?

5. Indicate the statement which most nearly describes the difficulty and general complexity of the
work performed in this position.

The work is routine or highly repetitive and simple in nature with little or no choice of
action.

The work is routine or repetitive and follows clearly prescribed standard practice
involving straightforward application of readily understood rules and procedures. The
employees may make minor decisions, usually of relatively little importance, which
affect efficiency of the operation rather than accuracy, correctness, or quality of work.

The work is generally routine or standardized but involves a choice of action within
limits defined by standard practices and instructions. It also requires applying
established rules and procedures and making decisions that may affect quality,
accuracy, or utility of results.
The work is generally semi-routine or diversified and requires judgment in applying
broader aspects of established practices and procedures to problems and situations not
falling clearly within the limitations of accepted standards and precedents. The
employee works toward assigned objectives, sometimes adopting or modifying
methods and standards to meet changing conditions.
 The work is governed generally by broad instructions, objectives, and policies, usually
involving frequently changing conditions and problems. It requires considerable
judgment to apply factual background and fundamental principles in developing
problem-solving approaches and techniques.

The work requires analysis of broad problems, the planning of interrelated activities,
and sometimes the coordination of efforts of more than one major department or
division. The employee works out programs and approaches to major problems using
recognized general principles.

The work involves responsibility for consideration and analysis of major problems for
the organization. It requires development of data and recommendations influencing
decisions on long-term policies relating to major functions where no precedent has been
established.

6. Class of
your position

Certification of Immediate Supervisor: I certify that I have reviewed the entries made by the employee on
this form and agree that they are accurate and complete; I also certify that the entries in this section are my
own and to the best of my knowledge are accurate and complete.

Signature Date

The following area may be used by the agency as a place for documentation of the essential functions for
this position. Factors to consider in determining if a function is essential include, but are not limited to:
whether the position exists to perform that function; the number of employees available to perform that job
function or among whom the performance of that function can be distributed; and the degree of expertise
or skill required to perform the function. Marginal functions are considered to be those which are not
essential.

Duty Statements Essential Marginal

Signature Date

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